Emergency Services in the Boston Area

Acute Psychiatry Service at Massachusetts General Hospital

The Acute Psychiatry Service, or APS, is located within the MGH Emergency Department. They are a 24-hour service that provides diagnosis and treatment of acute psychiatric and neuropsychiatric emergencies. Phone: 617.726.2994

Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST)

The Boston Emergency Service Team or BEST sends mobile crisis clinicians to homes, schools, outpatient clinics and other community locations. BEST provides 24-hour response to adults and youth in need of crisis intervention for mental health and substance use concerns. The BEST team is made up of experienced, master’s-level clinicians, psychiatrists, family partners, certified peer specialists, advanced practice nurses, registered nurses and mental health workers. Phone: 800.981.HELP (800.981.4357)

Emergency Services Program Mobile Crisis Intervention

The mission of the Emergency Services Program/Mobile Crisis Intervention (ESP/MCI) is to deliver high quality, culturally competent, clinically and cost-effective, integrated community-based behavioral health crisis assessment, intervention, and stabilization services. There are 21 ESPs, covering every city and town across Massachusetts, providing services 24 hours per day/7 days per week/365 days per year. Phone: 877.382.1609

Community Resources

Postpartum Support International (PSI) of Massachusetts

PSI of Massachusetts staffs a help line where callers can receive confidential information, support and listings of local resources. Women and families can leave a message and a trained volunteer, often a professional and/or someone with lived experience, will return the call within 24 hours. Phone: 866.472.1897

Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP) for Moms

MCPAP for Moms provides real-time, perinatal psychiatric consultation and care coordination for obstetric, pediatric, primary care and psychiatric providers to effectively prevent, identify, and manage depression and other mental health concerns in pregnant and postpartum women. Phone: 855.MOM.MCPAP (855.666.6272)

Massachusetts’s Women’s Health Network

The Massachusetts Women’s Health Network provides uninsured or under-insured women, 40 to 64 years of age, free screening and health care services, including mammograms, clinical breast exams, physical exams, pap tests, blood pressure and sugar levels, total and HDL cholesterol levels, and height, weight and body mass index. Phone: 781.388.4018

Coping with Stress and Difficult Emotions During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Join other women who are pregnant or have given birth in the last year for a virtual group through Mass General Brigham. In these groups, you will learn skills to help you cope with feeling stressed, anxious, or down. You will have the opportunity to discuss ways to apply these skills in the context of motherhood/transitions to parenthood, coping with physical and emotional changes, and gaining social support from peers. They are offering two groups: a group for pregnant women and a group for women who have given birth in the past year. Groups run for 10-weeks starting mid-January 2023 and are held on Wednesdays at 3PM. To learn more about the pregnancy group, contact Dr. Rachel Vanderkruik (781.691.9071, rvanderkruik@mgh.harvard.edu). To learn more about the postpartum group, contact Dr. Rachel Millstein (617.724.2047, ramillstein@mgh.harvard.edu) or Dr. Liz Waldron (617.724.6521, ewaldron2@mgh.harvard.edu). (Only MGH-patients eligible to enroll.)

Jewish Children & Family Services

Jewish Children & Family Services’ Center for Early Relationship Support provides resources for both mother and child in the Boston area, including support groups for issues around postpartum depression and anxiety, difficulty breastfeeding, families facing sleep issues, etc. and offers referrals for therapeutic support and other resources. Contact them directly, or ask someone close to you to contact them, at info@jfcsboston.org or 781.693.5652

Room to Grow

Room to Grow is dedicated to supporting parents and caregivers to promote positive beginnings for children. Families in this program cultivate strategies to promote their children’s development, select baby and toddler items for their children, and connect with other local organizations and community resources that can expand their support network.

New Baby Supplies

The Family Nurturing Center offers one-time home visits or calls that reinforce the importance of reading and conversation to healthy child development and school readiness, as well as provide community resources to new parents in Dorchester, Allston-Brighton, and Roslindale/Hyde Park. In addition to the visit/call, families will also receive a thoughtful gift bag which includes a handmade blanket, baby essentials, and books for baby, siblings, and parents. Anyone can refer!

Parent Support Groups and “Warm Line”

Parent’s Helping Parents offers a variety of tailored support groups that provide safe spaces for Massachusetts parents to share their experiences.